1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to medicine inhalers. More specifically, the present invention relates to medicine inhalers having structure for viewing the inhalation of medicine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Persons with respiratory ailments such as asthma or emphysema commonly use prescription drugs such as Albuterol to treat their aliment. Drugs of this type are generally made in liquid form and are stored in small medicine canisters. The medicine canisters generally have a nozzle within one end to release the liquid in the form of a mist. The mist is then inhaled into the lungs to medicate the user of the drug.
The medicine canister is typically used by placing the canister into an inhaler device that facilitates the transferal of the medicinal mist to the user's lungs. A typical inhaler device consists of a housing for receiving the canister, a seat portion with passage for directing the flow of the mist, and a mouthpiece. U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,371 issued to Frid et al. illustrates a typical inhaler device of this type. Inhaler devices of this type are commonly used by placing the mouthpiece of the inhaler device into the user's mouth and pressing down on the top of the medicine canister, actuating the nozzle portion of the canister. The medicinal mist is then released through the nozzle and into a passageway that directs the mist in the proper direction with the proper intensity.
Inhaler devices of this type do not provide the user with information about the effectiveness of a self-administered dose and coincidentally does not alert the person using the device as to whether he or she is using the inhaler device properly. Therefore, a user of this type of inhaler device has to go through a period of trial and error to arrive at a proper method of using the device so as to achieve desired results. Further, younger users may have difficulty in using an inhaler device of this type with repetitive accuracy. Therefore, a need has arisen for an inhaler device that provides the user with information about the effectiveness of their self-administered dosages.
Other devices have been designed to attempt to fulfill this need. U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,380 issued to Dwork is one of these devices. This device provides an incentive spirometer for delivering medication to patients from metered dose inhaler canisters. A ball inside the indicator tube provides the user with information as to whether or not the user is drawing upon the mouthpiece with a proper amount of force so as to draw the ball toward the top of the indicator tube. This type of information is somewhat useful in that it notifies the user whether he or she is inhaling with an amount of force that would result in lifting the ball within the indicator tube. However, this device does not provide the user with information concerning whether or not the mist delivered by the medicine canister was properly received by the user. Therefore, there is a need for an improved inhaler device that provides the user with a greater amount of information about the effectiveness of the user's efforts to properly inhale the mist dispensed by the medicine canister.
Further, the Dwork device is configured such that the medicine canister is positioned within the line of sight of the indicator tube. As a consequence, the medicine canister partial blocks the view of the indicator tube preventing the user from fully viewing the activity in the indicator tube. Therefore, there is a need for an improved inhaler device that provides the user with an unobstructed view of the activity in the inhaler device.
Even further, the Dwork device does not provide indicia of the amount of force the user is using to draw the medicinal mist into the user's lungs other than the indication that the user has inhaled with an amount of force to bring the ball within the indicator tube to stop at the top of the indicator tube. Accordingly, users who may have difficulty repeatedly drawing upon the mouthpiece with the proper amount of force, do not have a point of reference to gage their efforts. Therefore, there is still a need for an inhaler device that more readily provides the user with information regarding the amount of force that is required to inhale a proper dosage of medicinal mist.
Devices such as the aerosol inhalation device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,140 issued to Smith are also used in conjunction with the common inhaler device as discussed above. The aerosol inhalation device is used to provide a chamber for receiving the medicinal mist where the velocity of the mist is reduced before it is introduced into the user's mouth. The inhalation device allows the user to view the activity inside the device but does not provide the user with readily viewable indicia of the dosage progress. Therefore, there remains a need for an improved inhaler device that allows the user to readily view the progress of the user's inhalation.